


A Prince is Supposed to Eat.

by Shigureism



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Depression, Eating Disorders, Self-Harm
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-20
Packaged: 2021-03-21 14:09:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30022965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shigureism/pseuds/Shigureism
Summary: Noctis is celebrating his 18th birthday. Ignis makes one wrong comment and it send Noctis spiraling into something far beyond an eating problem.
Relationships: Noctis Lucis Caelum/Ignis Scientia
Comments: 1
Kudos: 36





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> TW!!! Be warned there are depictions of eating disorders, self harm, severe anxiety and depression. Am I projecting??? Of course not 0-0

He was supposed to be happy today. Maybe it was being woken up at 11:50 by Ignis after spending the last 6 hours grinding at one of his video games. He knew why he was being woken up, but for some reason it feels different this time. Sitting at the head of the large expansive table in the Citadel dining hall Noctis was supposed to be the happiest today of all the days. He was finally 18. A firm slap to his left shoulder blade snapped him out of the numb void he had started to slip into. He glanced up to his excited best friend who could hardly contain himself. 

“Go on Noct! Blow the candles out so we can dig into the cake!” 

Noctis gave a weak smile as a reply. Leaning forward he took a big breath, blowing out the 18 tiny flames in one swoop as the nearby clock struck 12am. Everyone he was within the dining hall with clapped and smiled, not noticing how Noctis slumped back into his seat. 

Regis leaned forward from Noctis’ right side and embraced him in a hug, only being able to reach his shoulders but still squeezed his son tight. “Happy Birthday my son. I love you so much.” 

Regis’ comment caused another twinge on Noctis’ heart. He was supposed to be happy, excited, overjoyed. But nothing. He reached up with one arm, returning his fathers hug before the King could slip his arms away. “Thank you dad. I’m really happy to celebrate today with you. But do you always have to wake me up so early.” 

“You know each Royal birthday is celebrated at the beginning of the day. I promise you won’t have to stay up too much longer.” Regis chucked lightly into the top of his sons head. 

“Come on princess you gotta share one piece of cake before going back to sleepy town.” The voice traveling from behind him made its way up to the chair a few seats away. The muscular man watched Prompto plop down next to him in the sea of other party goers now finding their own seats. 

“Gladio you wouldn’t like being woken up just to eat cake. It’s an amazing thing to eat but not worth ruining a precious slumber~” Prompto closed his eyes and made dramatic sleeping noises while Gladio chuckled and shoved his arm lightly. 

The only thing Noctis could do was watch. Every year he would be so excited for his birthday, staying up so Ignis wouldn’t have to wake him up, eagerly eating up his share of the birthday cake, but for some reason he couldn’t shake this uncomfortable feeling. Before he felt like he even blinked the small decorative cake had been removed from in front of him and had been replaced with a hearty portion of cake and a scoop of his favorite sorbet flavor. He gazed down at the plate in front of him. Squeezing his eyes shut he quickly decided to force down whatever this feeling was. He can’t have his friends and his father making any assumptions. He can’t ruin this moment for them. Moving his limbs like he was swimming through jello, he picked up his fork and cut off a piece of cake, bringing it to his mouth and tasting it. He knew the flavor well, dark fudge, but for some reason it quickly left a bad aftertaste in his mouth. Or was it a bad after thought? His face contorted slightly, not understanding the lingering feeling. 

“Son are you alright?” Regis had noticed the twisted look on Noctis’ face. 

Noctis quickly nodded to avoid any sort of worry. “Yeah I’m okay, just been a while since I’ve had my birthday cake. You know having it once a year and all that.” He half smiled at his father hoping his poor joke would make Regis drop it. He watched his father faintly smile back before diving into his own serving. 

~~~~~~~

He was speed walking back to his bedroom, almost running to avoid the churning of his stomach. He forced himself to eat everything on his plate while watching everyone mingle and talk around him. Forcing each piece of cake and each spoonful of sorbet was almost unbearable. It made him want to hurl. 

Throwing his bedroom doors open he whirled around and quickly threw them shut. He could hardly think while half running half stumbling to his personal bathroom. He ran to the toilet, gripping the sides of the seat while his body rejected everything he had just consumed within the past hour. It was the worst feeling of being sick he had experienced in a long time. He knew nothing could’ve been wrong with his birthday treat, but here he was throwing up his guts until nothing was coming back up. He coughed a few times while watching his vomit disappear into the toilet while pulling weakly on the handle. Shivering he slowly sat down with his back against a cold tiled wall. 

‘What the fuck was that?’ He thought to himself letting his head thud back against the wall. His mind was spiraling, trying to think of any logical reasoning to this godsawful feeling in the pit of his stomach. Was it the lack of sleep? Was it from brushing his teeth before eating? He kept flipping through the options, not noticing the click of the door opening and hearing a gasp from someone above. 

“Noctis what happened?” 

Noctis looked up and met eyes with another familiar face. The man in question pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose in concern while giving a hand to the prince to help him off the floor. 

“I-Its nothing, Iggy, I’m fine.” Noctis lied, standing up and using a small bit of toilet paper to wipe his mouth off of all evidence. “I guess I had too much cake and it upset my stomach, or something.” 

“Well I could hear you from outside the bathroom door. It sounded quite uncomfortable. Do you wish for me to get a doctor?” 

“No!” Noctis didn’t mean to respond so loudly. He roughly swallowed and forced a half smile to hopefully convince Ignis he was alright. “Sorry, I just think I had too much. Hell, the piece I ate was practically the size of my foot.” 

Ignis watched the princes expression, not quite believing the forced smile, but nonetheless he smirked back and nodded. “Quite true. Since it is a once a year treat maybe you just overestimated your stomach. Maybe you’ll learn to eat it in smaller quantities now.” 

Noctis forced a small laugh, feeling the last bit of words from Ignis hurt his ego a little more than it should have. “I had no problem with it before so I think I can make that choice.” He lied through his teeth again, replaying the last sentence in his head over and over. 

Ignis sighed and looked at his wrist watch, tsk-ing lightly to himself. “Well, if you’re sure you’re alright, I’ll advise to head back to sleep since it is almost a quarter til 2.” 

Noctis nodded, just agreeing to get Iggy away from him and out of his room. “Sounds good to me.” He followed Ignis out of the bathroom and watched his spectacled friend bid his farewell before pulling his bedroom doors shut with a soft thud. His whole body sighed while he fell back onto his bed, his mind still replaying what Ignis had said in the bathroom. 

‘Maybe you’ll learn to eat in smaller quantities now.....eat in smaller quantities...’ 

Noctis couldn’t understand why he was letting that dig at him. He quickly tried to distract himself by changing his shirt to get rid of the evidence of spewing his guts near minutes ago. Hopefully once he’s gone back to bed and slept some more this feeling will go away. 

Hopefully....

His birthday came and went like any other of his birthdays. Presents from his 3 close friends, a present from his father, and being able to abstain from doing any princely thing for the whole day. The only problem was.....everything he ate he could barely keep down. His breakfast almost left as soon as it went to his stomach. His lunch was only half eaten and his dinner just picked at, he hardly even attempted to pick anything up with his fork to put it in his mouth. 

Regis quickly picked on to his son being uncomfortable. He watched Noctis roll a piece of kielbasa back and forth on his dinner plate while staring beyond the table. 

“Noctis, are you feeling alright?” He was worried maybe Noctis had been upset at one of the gifts he had received during the day. 

Noctis quickly looked up, finally realizing how zoned out he had been. “Oh, sorry, nothings wrong. I just...haven’t felt like eating today...” he hoped his dad wouldn’t press on. He didn’t want to tell him the truth of what had happened during the night, making his dad worry even more about him than he already does. “I’m okay really, just no appetite.” He flashed a small smile at his father, watching Regis’ expressions from worry fade slightly. 

“Okay, I hope you’re telling me the truth.” Regis smiled warmly back at his son. 

There was that feeling again. The twinge in his chest from faking his happiness. He stood up from his place at the dining table and walked to his dad. He quickly embraced his father, squeezing him tight. 

“Thank you for the presents today, and the cake and sorbet. I love you dad. Please don’t worry about me.” 

Regis sighed and wrapped one arm around his sons waist lightly. “Noctis I’m your father, it’s my job to worry endlessly about you. I love you more than anything.” 

Noctis smiled into his dads grey hair. “Well, even though today is my birthday, I’m going to head to bed. I guess being 18 isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be.” 

Regis chuckled while patting his sons back. “Alright Noctis, hopefully I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

Noctis hummed in agreement, hating that he probably won’t see his dad again like this for a couple of weeks. It still never stopped Regis from telling Noctis he would see him everyday even if he couldn’t keep that promise. He pulled away and waved lightly at his father while walking out of the dining hall. 

He walked slowly, dragging his feet back to his room. Throwing himself back onto his soft bed after putting on his pajamas, he stared at the large canopy above his bed. 

18.....He’s finally 18. The thought had lingered long enough to turn from excitement to worry. 18....finally considered an adult. No more high school, no more part time job, his life now solely dedicated to replacing his father when the time came. He couldn’t even think of how he would be as a king. The anxiety settling in more and more, Noctis threw a hand over his mouth to stop an audible gag from escaping. Oh no...the same feeling from this morning. He scrambled out of his bed and rushed to the bathroom once more. His body lurching over the toilet, his food from the day completely flowing out of his mouth, why was this happening!? He let himself throw up until he was exhausted. Once again he grabbed a wad of toilet paper wiping his face off the best he could with trembling hands. Cringing and looking away he flushed everything down. 

Dragging his feet back to his bed, Noctis laid down on the edge of the bed closest to the bathroom. He can’t make the mistake of trying to stumble around his room during the night if he had to throw up again for some unknown reason. Letting out a frustrated sigh, his mind snapped back to what Ignis said earlier. 

Maybe you’ll learn to eat in smaller quantities 

Noctis couldn’t wrap his head around it. Had he really eaten too much during the day? What could he have possibly eaten too much of to justify emptying his guts for the second time in the span of 24 hours? ‘No stop it!’ He quickly shook his head and slapped his cheeks lightly, trying to talk himself out of this funk.

“Just stop, just stop nothings wrong with you...”  
He wanted to believe what he was telling himself....but maybe Iggy was right. Hell, there wasn’t a time when Noctis found Iggy wrong in any way, even if he didn’t want to admit it out loud. He bit the inside of his cheek in worry, laying down on his side staring blankly at the wall. He wrapped himself up in the bedsheets, only then he felt himself sigh in relief. ‘Just go to bed, I won’t feel this bad tomorrow. I’ll eat whatever I want tomorrow.’ He quickly regretted thinking about eating as his stomach flipped around in protest. 

He groaned and buried himself in his pillows and blankets, not wanting to ever deal with this feeling again. 

Except this feeling was going to stick around a lot longer than he ever excepted.


	2. Chapter 2

A light rapping at Noctis’ bedroom door woke him up the next morning. His alarm clock attempted waking him up about half an hour ago, but he’s mastered the art of sleeping through the blaring noise. He groggily pulled himself from the soft bed and stumbled to the door. 

“Good morning Noctis, I can presume you’re ready for your morning run with Gladio.” Ignis slid into the princes bedroom as Noctis opened the door for him. He quickly started gathering athletic garb for Noctis. 

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Noctis groaned back at his spectacled friend. He peeled his pajamas off his tired body, not caring about undressing in front of his friend, pulling the grey long sleeve shirt and black shorts on in their replacement. Shoving his feet into his running shoes Noctis yawned and left Ignis alone in the bedroom, heading straight to the Citadel training center. He walked through the training hall and out to a small track surrounding a dirt patch that was made for sparring. The sun barely peeking over the trees, just bright enough to make Noctis squeeze his eyes shut. He was still rubbing his eyes while he felt a big hand clap the back of his right shoulder. 

“Gladio! Don’t scare me like that!” He exasperated as his burly friend chucked. 

“Come on princess it’s wake up time! Gotta get your heart pumping so we can enjoy a nice breakfast after.” Gladio nudges Noctis’ side lightly while he began to jog around the track. 

Noctis tried his best to ignore the cringing and flips his stomach did as Gladio mentioned ‘breakfast’. He sighed and started jogging as well, hoping the exercise will help him ignore the sensation. Catching up to the bigger man they both glanced to eachother before picking up the pace of the jog to now a steady running gait. After about an hour, Gladio decided that they had done enough so he slowed down to a halt as Noctis did the same. “Alright, let’s get back inside and have some grub.” Gladio wiped his hand across his forehead and walked off the track leaving Noctis behind. 

Noctis groaned under his breath. He wanted this annoying feeling to just stop. Honestly after not being able to keep anything down from the day before he was starving. So, he scooped up his water bottle he had left by the door and gulped it down, feeling relief as the cold air conditioning hit his face and sweaty body. He continued back to his bedroom, sitting down at his large desk wiping the sweat away from his face and head with a towel. Soon after he finally cooled down completely Ignis came in with a tray, two plates of a balanced breakfast and glasses of water and juice. 

“Mind if I join you this morning?” Ignis asked, which Noctis replied with a nod and made room for Ignis to join him at the desk. “I can assume your run went well, considering how your shirt now is a completely different shade of grey.” 

Noctis half smiled and tried to ignore the acrobatics his insides were doing while watching Ignis place the food on the desk. “You know Gladio, ‘what’s the point of working out if you don’t end up sweating’ .” 

“Agreed. The sweating can definitely feel like an accomplishment. Kind of a way to show off the hard work you’ve done.” Ignis looks at Noctis and smiles lightly. 

Another stomach flip. Noctis bites his lips together and looks down at his plate, looking at the perfectly made meal in front of him. He hated when Ignis would say things like that, complementing his sweaty body, knowing that to Noctis it came off as being totally sexy. Was Iggy making him nervous? Was the food in front of him making him nervous? He quickly shifted his head to focus on the food on his plate, determined to eat all of it. 

He sat there with Ignis, doing his best to avoid the screaming his stomach was doing as he ate. Every bite made him feel so weird. Would this make him throw up? Could he keep it down until lunch? Would he even be able to look at lunch when the time came? 

As Ignis finished his plate he noticed that Noctis had completely cleared off his own, now chugging down the last of his water. He then remembered yesterday, hearing Noctis from outside the bathroom. He bit the inside of his cheek contemplating saying anything, but then decided to go ahead and pry. “Noctis, do you feel any better from yesterday? You should go to the infirmary if you’re still not feeling well.” 

Noctis shot his eyes to Ignis, trying to keep his breath under control ‘don’t let Ignis think there’s something wrong’ he thought to himself. “I’m fine. It was just one time I’m sure I’ll be completely normal again by tomorrow.” His leg was lightly shaking under the table. ‘oh my gods Ignis please leave I have to throw up so bad!!’ 

Ignis looked the prince up and down with a worried gaze. “If you say so. It’s not right for the prince to lie about his health, you know?” He gave Noctis a playful scolding look like a mother would to a child. “I’ll leave you be to shower and then I’ll come get you again in a while to go over some things for later in the week.” He stood up, gathered the plates and silverware, placing them back onto the tray.   
Noctis stood up as well, standing behind his chair squeezing the leather of the seat in a vice grip. “Just turned 18, and I still feel like I’m in school having to go class.” He said to Ignis sarcastically, doing anything and saying anything to distract the screaming of his stomach and throat. He threw a weak hand up waving slightly as Ignis left the room. He squeezed the seat so hard his knuckles were turning white, waiting to hear Ignis’ footsteps subdue to nothing to make sure he wasn’t to close to hear anything that was about to happen.

‘Oh my gods oh my gods oh my gods bathroom now’ Noctis practically bolted to the bathroom, shutting the door and locking it before throwing himself over the toilet, letting himself hurl. He fell to his knees, trying his best to not get puke anywhere else other than the toilet. One hand digging into the side of the toilet while the other dug into his thigh, his nails sinking into his skin to avoid the pain in his throat. 

After his entire breakfast swirled down the drain he sat back against the wall, like the previous time, and laid his head back against the cool tile trying to get his ragged breathing under control. He could feel tears streaming down his face, knowing they were only their because of how his body strained to expel his food. Noctis audibly cringed, wiping his still sweaty hair out of his face. ‘Why is this happening!? What is wrong with me!?’ Without thinking he hugged his knees to his chest like he would as a child, burying his face into them. No, he can’t let this make him break down. He has to keep eating, he can’t just not eat that would be stupid of him....right? 

He slapped the sides of his face a few times sighing heavily. “Okay okay stop freaking out. Just take a shower.” He stood up, ripping his clothes off and jumped into the shower, not bothering to wait until the water was warm. He had to snap himself out from this funk. He rubbed his body roughly while bathing to keep him from thinking about just spewing his guts. ‘It’s fine. Like I said to Ignis I’ll be fine by tomorrow.’ 

‘.....I’ll be fine by tomorrow....’

Well ‘tomorrow’ came and went. In fact after ‘tomorrow’ happened, this ‘throwing up everything’ had now been going on for 6 days at this point. Noctis practically threw up every full meal he had. He could keep down his food if he ate like a bird, but every time he would force himself to eat an entire plate of food, mostly to please his father or Ignis, it would come straight back up. Days after days of throwing up everything has now left Noctis’ throat so raw he could only swallow liquids without being in pain. He could barely keep up with Gladio during training now. There always was a struggle to keep up but he could feel it in his body more than ever. Noctis knew he was malnourished. Hell he’s figured out the only thing he can really chug and keep down is electrolyte drinks and plain water. 

This particular morning he could feel his whole body screaming for him to stop. Of course if he said anything to Gladio, Gladio would only brush him off and call him a wuss. He jumped to the side, dodging one of Gladio’s attacks. He rolled on the mat, quickly getting back to his feet, only to feel his whole right calf completely seize up in a painful cramp. He let out a painful scream and fell to his side, gripping his leg hard. 

Gladio, huffed himself up and shouted to Noctis, thinking that the prince got hit. “Noctis! You were supposed to dodge that you know?” 

Noctis bit his lips hard, holding back a painful groan. “I-I did, asshole! You...didn’t h-hit me!” He tried his best to stand back up but it only caused another wave of excruciating cramping. He fell back to his side hardly able to get a full breath in. 

Gladio furrowed his brows and it clicked why Noctis was writhing in pain. He quickly shouted over his shoulder to a staff member “Tell the infirmary that Prince Noctis needs assistance!” Gladio carefully helped Noctis to his feet the best he could. 

Noctis only gripped Gladio’s arm putting all his weight onto his non-cramping leg. “G-gladio I don’t think I-I can...w-walk.” He sucked in a deep breath. “Cramping...” 

Gladio grimaced and decided to scoop Noctis into his arms. “Don’t even think of protesting this princess,” he expected Noctis to weigh more than he did, almost losing his grip on the prince’s body “hey, you’ve lost some weight, have you been eating enough?” Noctis cringed and went to speak but Gladio cut him off. “Gods, that’s probably why your legs in a cramp.” 

Noctis scoffed and punched Gladio’s shoulder. He felt stupid, being carried bridal style to the infirmary. “Yes I have been eating asshole.” He technically wasn’t lying. It’s not his fault that food doesn’t want to stay in his stomach. 

Gladio sat him down at one of the tables in the infirmary. Explaining everything that happened to the physiotherapist. Noctis could only look down and chew at his bottom lip, feeling ridiculous. 

“Prince Noctis, my names Doctor Lorem, I’m the physiotherapist on hand today. I’m going to apply these heat packs to your leg alright?” He guided Noctis to lay down on the table and he gently laid the pads on Noctis’ calf while also lightly massaging the muscles. Noctis could only wince in pain, but he knew this was the only way to get relief. 

Gladio lingered by the door, watching the physiotherapist and Noctis. He narrowed his eyes, scanning over Noctis’ body looking at the princes physique. ‘He has gotten skinner...dumb kid’ he thought to himself, completely assuming that all of this just has to do with Noctis’ notorious picky eating. The physiotherapist stopped massaging after a few minutes and instructed Noctis to leave the heating pads on for a few more. 

Once the pain had subdued to a dull ache, Noctis took the heating pads off and sat up on the table. “Thanks Doc.” He mumbled, while scooting off the table and jumped to his feet, doing his best to ignore his head spinning. Why was his head spinning? Why was his head throbbing? His eyes fluttered slightly as he sighed and started to try to walk towards the door, trying his best to hide the visible discomfort of his vision warping. 

He didn’t hide it well, as the physiotherapist quickly caught Noctis’ arm and body before Noctis could hit the floor. Gladio gasped and ran quickly to the other side of Noctis, grabbing his other arm. They both quickly guided Noctis back to the table. 

Gladio was shocked, did he over work Noctis too hard? “Woah woah Noctis, you need to get back on the table, you’re obviously not well.” 

“I-I’m okay, just a little worn out...s-sorry.” Noctis tried to brush off Gladio, but he wasn’t very convincing. 

“Noctis, being just a little worn out wouldn’t make someone pass out.” The physiotherapist chimed in. “If you don’t mind me asking, do you know how much you weigh?” 

The question made Noctis’ whole body tense. “I don’t know, I don’t keep track of that!” He responded defensively, “I just didn’t stretch good enough today probably.” 

“Noctis, I think it’s best to get your weight just to make sure you’re not too underweight.” The physiotherapist tried his best to not sound pushy. “I just need to rule everything out to make sure nothing else is wrong. Are you willing to let me see how much you weigh” 

Gladio stepped back, watching how nervous Noctis was being. ‘Why is he being so nervous? ...He’s being so weird right now...’ There was an unsettling feeling in his gut, like Noctis was hiding something. 

“U-um.....” dread was seeping deeper and deeper into Noctis. “you know actually I think I was supposed to be with Iggy right now anyway he’s probably wondering what’s taking so long.” Noctis quickly pushed pass the physiotherapist and Gladio, half walking half stumbling out of the infirmary. 

Gladio couldn’t think fast enough, not grabbing Noctis’ arm fast enough to stop him from leaving. “Dude! What’s wrong with you!” Gladio quickly apologized to the physiotherapist as he was rushing out to catch up to the prince. 

Noctis held a hand over his mouth. Almost now running, ignoring Gladio shouting behind him. Just thinking about how much weight he’s probably lost makes him feel even sicker. He ran into the closest bathroom he could find, slamming the door shut and locking it. Gladio’s footsteps quickly catching up, now being replaced by the larger man pounding his fist on the locked door. 

“Noctis! What the fuck is your problem!?” 

Noctis couldn’t think straight, his head and heart pounding together in rhythm. “Just leave me alone, Gladio!” He pleaded to his friend on the other side of the door. Falling to his knees he quickly slapped a hand over his mouth dry heaving as quietly as he could. 

The bigger man tsked and punched the door. “Fine, I’ll let you sulk and be a brat by yourself.” He stomped away, letting his annoyance with Noctis get the best of him. 

Noctis couldn’t hold back anymore and once again emptied his stomach into the toilet. He held his waist in pain, letting out half sobs in between every wave of nausea. Once he was able to compose himself, he quickly got rid of the evidence and stood up from the floor. He staggered to the sink and looked at himself in the mirror. All that he saw looking back was a tired, pale face. He looked over his body, finally seeing how skinny he’s actually gotten. Realizing how his collarbones jut out more than normal, his arms being more twig-like, his eyes more sunken in. Gods he looked like shit. 

He had to tell someone, someone that wouldn’t say a word to his dad. He couldn’t bare to think about his dad finding out about this...... ‘problem’. Chewing the inside of his cheek he started rattling off people in his mind before it clicked. He knew exactly who to tell that wouldn’t dare spill the beans. 

Prompto


	3. Chapter 3

2 days have passed since the incident with Gladio. Noctis felt terrible, knowing that he couldn’t explain himself to his friend, so every time they had seen each other or have had to train together, Gladio would barely speak. He would bark orders like normal but nothing past that. It hurt Noctis, but it was better to be upset at his friend then to confess everything that had been going on. Besides, knowing Gladio it would take him only a few more days before he started up the name calling and teasing once again, so Noctis wasn’t too worried. 

The bubbly blonde was humming quietly to himself, sitting on his couch in his empty apartment flipping through the photos he had taken this morning in the local park. Prompto loved going to this certain park. He had always been able to find the prettiest birds, the most beautiful trees, just everything that could be seen as pretty or picturesque Prompto has snapped it to keep as a memory forever. 

Prompto felt the buzz of his phone in his pocket. He fished his phone out seeing the text from Noctis. 

Noctis - [hey Prompto, wanna come hang out tonight? We can play Diablo 3 if you want]

He smirked to himself and sent a quick response to his friend. 

Prompto - [sure thing :) Ill be there around 6pm k? Do I need to bring any munchies?] 

Noctis looked at Promptos response, swallowing nervously at what Prompto suggested. 

Noctis - [you can if you want. Just don’t forget to bring your extra controller]

Prompto - [ᕙ(`▿´)ᕗ u got it] 

Prompto smiled to himself, happy that Noctis finally had a night to relax and chill, not knowing at all what his best friend was planning to unload to him that night. It was something he definitely wasn’t expecting in a million years. 

6pm came, and Noctis was walking into his room with Prompto, carrying a bag of chips and sweets that made the princes stomach knot. 

“So, Diablo 3, I thought you didn’t like that game?” Prompto plopped down onto the love seat at the foot of Noctis’ bed, fishing his personal controller out of his backpack. 

Noctis smiled to himself, trying his best to keep his nerves down, knowing what he was about to confess to his best friend later on that night. “Well, I don’t like playing the game by myself. It’s easier when you have someone else picking up everything you leave behind so you can keep slicing through the bad guys.” 

Prompto pretended to be hurt by letting out a dramatic sigh. “What am I to you? A pack mule? So under appreciated~.” 

The prince laughed and turned on the console, connecting both of the wireless controllers and sitting down next to Prompto, avoiding the snacks that sit at their feet. 

They grinded through the game for a few hours before Prompto walked his character off the path and made it idle under a tree. “Let’s take a break, I wanna dig into these barbecue chips!” The blonde dove down and picked up the family size bag of chips placing it in between them, ripping the top open. Noctis awkwardly scooted away from the bag, trying to not be weird about it. 

“Sure thing....” his voice faltered slightly, not knowing whether to bring it up now, or to wait. He watched Prompto out of the corner of his eye take a few chips into his mouth, chewing them, and swallowing everything, having a pleased expression. 

Prompto glanced at Noctis, noticing the slight grimace on his friends face. “Dude, you alright? I have plain chips and Doritos if you want that instead.” 

“No!” Noctis uncomfortably shifted on his side of the love seat, noticing how Prompto flinched from the abrupt outburst. “sorry, I mean...I don’t want any....”his heart was hammering inside of his chest. ‘Just tell him oh my god it’s not that hard!’ His brain was screaming at him. “Prom...I didn’t ask you over just to play Diablo 3.....there’s something, I kinda need to talk to you about.” He was so fucking nervous! Why was he being so nervous in front of his best friend? His friend that he could tell anything to? Hell he already knows about Noctis’ feelings towards Ignis, teasing him about it any chance he got. But that wasn’t important now. He had to tell Prompto everything that has been going on. 

Prompto was completely caught off guard. Did he do something wrong? He quickly scanned his memories to see if something he did or said had upset Noctis in any way. “U-uh sure...did I do something wrong?” He quickly thought of one thing, hoping that this could be the reason behind Noctis acting so upset. “Oh, man if you didn’t like your present on your birthday you should’ve said something!” 

“It’s not that!” Noctis was deflecting Prompto’s assumption, shuffling in his seat to force himself to look at his blonde friend. He could do this. ‘Just spit it out damnit don’t hold back’. “Prom, ever since my birthday, I ’ve been having a hard time.....eating.....and not...... throwing it back up.” He couldn’t keep his gaze up. His head fell down as he played with the hem of his shirt to avoid eye contact. “Um, if I try to eat more than a handful of anything, then I run to the toilet and...you know.” His heart was beating a thousand miles a minute. He felt like he could die of embarrassment any second. 

The blonde boy couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He swallowed hard and glanced at the chips still in between their bodies, quickly moving them off the love seat and away from Noctis. “Um, wow, okay, that sounds really bad...have to talked to Iggy about this?” He got even more nervous and sad for Noctis when he saw Noctis shaking his head ‘no’. 

Feeling even more vulnerable, Noctis put his legs crisscross up on the love seat, curling in on himself being in full defense mode. “Well, h-he saw me the first time it happened. It was after we ate the cake and sorbet. I....thought it was only because I was nervous about my birthday, and now being an adult in some sense. But I don’t fucking know, Prom, it’s been happening for a while now and I don’t know how to make it stop.” His voice started to shake, his hands clenching around his ankle that was in his lap. 

“Dude, it’s alright,” Prompto quickly reached over and rested his hand gently on top of the princes. “It sounds...like a lot to deal with on your own.” He looks at his friend, now seeing it all. His skinny arms, the way his friend barely took up any room on the cushion, the weakness in his eyes. ‘Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit.’ Worry was seeping in deeper. “Can I ask you one thing Noct?” 

Noctis lifted his gaze, locking eyes with Prompto, nodding slightly. “What is it?” 

Prompto almost didn’t want to ask, not knowing how well the prince would take his question. But he just had to know. “You don’t...you’re not making yourself sick....are you?” 

Noctis’ jaw clenched. He felt a bit hurt by Prompto’s question. Why on earth would he make himself throw up? “No, I don’t.” He responded dryly. “Why the fuck would I want to make myself hurl every fucking day?” 

Shit. This is going exactly how Prompto didn’t want it to. “No, Noct please don’t get mad. I didn’t mean it like that.” He sighed and squeezed his friends hand. “Please Noct, I hate seeing you like this. You really need to tell Ignis. Jeez just skip telling Ignis and tell your dad!” 

“I’m not telling ‘him’ anything.” Noctis spat back. “He can’t know! He already, has to deal with so much more shit he can’t know that his son is dealing with something as stupid as this.” He watched Prompto coil back, pulling his hand away. “Please, the only reason I’m telling you is because you’re the only one I can trust to not say anything.” He hated confining Prompto to this secret, but he can’t keep suffering in silence like this anymore. 

Prompto felt his stomach drop at what his best friend just said to him. ‘Keep a secret from the King of Lucis, what the fuck!?’ He knew this was the worst idea in the world, but he didn’t want to lose his friend. After a minute of silence Prompto nodded sadly. “Okay...I won’t say anything....” 

Noctis let out a shaky sigh of relief. He felt so bad making Prompto do this. Maybe he shouldn’t have said anything in the first place? Was it better to just keep it a complete secret and only kept it to himself? 

He shook his head lightly squeezing his eyes shut, gripping Prompto’s hand and squeezing gently. “Thank you....please don’t say anything to Iggy or Gladio.” 

Prompto nodded, knowing that this secret was going to be hard to keep. He also knew that he now had to ride along the rollercoaster of making excuses for his friend whenever he needed to. “N-no prob...can we get back to the game now? I think we should try that dungeon again.” He tried his best to change the subject and lift the mood. 

The prince nodded and faked a half smile. “Sure thing, as long as you continue to be my pack mule.” He joked at Prompto, feeling the atmosphere shift back to some normality as Prompto stuttered and protested while they both reached for the controllers. He knew he could trust Prompto to not tell anyone. More so he convinced himself enough that Prompto wouldn’t tell. 

~~~~~

The next day after Prompto had left back for his apartment, a weight felt like it had been lifted from Noctis’ chest. Finally someone else knew about his problem. He knew the ill intent behind still keeping it a secret but it didn’t nearly bother him as much as it probably should have. Shuffling towards his bathroom to get ready for the day he felt his stomach groan and twist in pain. Oh yeah, it’s been about 48 hours since he’s eaten anything. He brushed it off, showering and slipping on a black long sleeve shirt and grey jeans. He had nothing super formal to do today so his attire was thankfully laid back. 

Once again like almost every morning Ignis knocked lightly on the door before entering. “Ah, I see you’re already clean and dressed.” The advisor picked up the slightly damp towel Noctis used that was draped over his chair, tossing it on the princes head and ruffling up the still soaking wet locks.

“H-hey! I can do that myself Iggy!” Thank god the towel he used was big enough to hide the blush that crept upon his face.

Ignis chuckled and kept towel drying Noctis’ head. “I know I know~, just wanted to tease you.” He pulled his hands away and lifted one side of the towel to expose Noctis’ face, now flushed deep red. Ignis definitely wasn’t expecting that expression, he expected more of a pissed off prince, not one that was blushing madly under a towel. He pulled his hand away and turned on his heels in an attempt to hide his own faint blush that was now creeping up to his cheeks. “Your father instructed me to let you know that since today is a Lucian holiday, you have a ‘free day’ today, so to speak....” He lightly cleared his throat as he walked back to the doors. “He requested to see you in his chambers. Just send the word if you need anything else from me.” 

Noctis watched Ignis disappear behind the doors. He slowly sat down in his chair, holding his face in his hands still feeling the heat radiating from his deep blushing, screaming to himself in his head, ‘Fuck fuck fuck fuck he totally saw me blushing oh my gods he totally saw it!’ He fisted the towel into his face, making a muffled screaming noise of embarrassment. Quickly standing back up he rushed to the bathroom switching the blowdryer on, drying his hair and also running the cold setting over his face to help him calm down. Maybe this will help and make the blushing not be so noticeable to his dad. 

Noctis got to his fathers chambers a few minutes later, reaching up with his hand to knock on the door but something inside him made his hand falter. What if his dad knew something was wrong....what if Regis has noticed everything and knew everything. He shuddered to himself, forcing his worries down as he knocked on the hardwood door. He heard a soft ‘come in’ from the other side so he pushed the door open. Was this door always this heavy? Noctis walked in to his fathers vastly larger bedroom and noticed he was sitting at his table, reading and signing documents. 

Regis lifted his head up and smiled warmly at Noctis. “Noctis, please come sit.” He slid some of the papers away from the seat that was next to his, clearing a spot for his son to sit down. “I was told you had Prompto over here last night?” 

Noctis sat down next to his father nodding. “Yeah we played some Diablo 3.” He knew Regis had no idea what Diablo 3 was or any video game he brought up in conversation. It was still nice to talk to someone else about his hobbies that attempted to show some support and interest. 

“Ah, sounds exciting.” Regis stacked up all the documents to one side of the table, maneuvering his chair to face his son. “It’s been a while since we’ve talked. I guess...yes the last time we talked was your birthday.” He absolutely hated that his schedule didn’t give him more time with his son. He still saw Noctis almost every day, even it was just a glance across a room or a passing down a corridor. 

“It’s okay, dad, what was it you want to talk about?” Noctis shifted in his seat, trying to sit in a way that wouldn’t cause his bones to dig into the rich wood of the chair. 

Regis shrugged lightly and motioned with one hand to a staff member. “Nothing in particular, I just want to spend time with you and have brunch together.” The staff member nodded and left the room to retrieve the meal the king requested. 

Noctis’ whole body tensed up. “B-brunch? But I alrea-“ 

“No, you didn’t,” Regis cut Noctis off. “Ignis already told me that you haven’t eaten today yet and neither have I. Plus I made sure that what we’re having doesn’t have a copious amount of veggies in it.” 

His whole being was starting to fill with dread. Noctis shot his eyes around the room in embarrassment, hating that his dad caught him in a lie. What he hated more was knowing that this meal was more than likely going to be eaten in vain. “Um okay, thanks I guess...” he sunk into his chair, trying to hide his body from his dad. Regis didn’t catch on to his sons body language as he started to ramble off about some papers that Noctis deemed unimportant. They went back and forth for a few minutes before the staff member returned with a cart, two dishes cooked to perfection sitting on it. 

Regis sat up, letting the staff member place the food in front of him, sighing contently as he was quite ready to eat. On the other hand, Noctis watched the staff member with laser eyes, putting his plate down in front of him, not daring to move or breathe in the smell of the food too much, knowing exactly what his stomach would do if he got too much of the smell. Noctis’ arms were crossed over his chest, glaring at his meal like he was trying to kill it again just by looking at it. 

“Noctis please, sit up you know better than that.” Regis lightly scolded his son, flipping his napkin out to his side before laying it across his lap. “I asked them to make yours more spicy since I know you enjoy that.” 

Noctis scoffed to himself in his head. ‘Yeah I’m gonna really enjoy that when it comes back up, burning my throat and whatnot.’ He let out a small sigh, knowing that he can’t express how he really feels about the food. Quickly he laid his napkin across his own lap and started to cut his meat into small pieces, taking his time to make them smaller than usual. Regis of course was diving into his own plate, not paying attention to how his son was meagerly nibbling at his meal. 

A horrible thought shot through Noctis’ head. ‘Hide your food. Pretend to eat it.’ He did his best to hide the shifting in his seat. He had no fucking clue why his brain just told him to do this, but it sounded a lot better than throwing it up later. He glanced at his father and took another bite, forcing some sauce to get on the corner of his mouth. Reaching up with his napkin, he wiped his mouth while also shoving the piece of meat into the cloth, quickly pulling his hand back down to hide the chunk of meat in the napkin. 

Regis didn’t notice a thing. 

A wave of pride washed over him. He quickly dove into telling his dad about the escapades he and Prompto went on in the video game, telling Regis how he finally beat the dungeon boss with Prompto’s help. Regis hummed in agreement, not understanding anything his son was talking about, but purely enjoying this moment he was having together. 

Noctis ended up actually eating only a small portion of his food, while the rest was fisted into his napkin in his lap. As the staff member came back to retrieve their empty plates, Noctis balled up the napkin and left it on top of his plate, seeing how you couldn’t tell at all that their was a bunch of meat wadded into the now possibly stained white fabric. He bit his lips together, holding back a smile. 

Regis hummed again and stood up from the table. “I wish I could spend more time with you Noctis, but of course, there’s always something else that I have to do.” He clapped his hand over Noctis’ shoulder, feeling how thin his sons shoulder actually had become. His brow furrowing, “Goodness Noctis you’ve lost some weight. Have you been eating alright?” 

Noctis brushed his fathers hand away and laughed awkwardly. “Yes dad, Gladio’s just been training me hard, you know that.” He stood up from his chair making his way towards the bedroom doors, not wanting this conversation to go on any longer. 

Regis watched his son walk away, seeing how his once fitted shirt now hangs on his frame slightly baggy, not liking how that looked at all. “Do try to keep your appetite at the same level as your training.” 

“Yeah yeah, maybe Gladio shouldn’t make me run every morning at the asscrack of dawn.” He saw his father sigh gently from his choice of words, but he just smiled back and waved as he left his fathers chambers. “Bye dad.” 

“Goodbye, son.” Regis now using his cane to help him balance. He watched his son disappear behind the doors. He hated letting him go, but he knew he had to go speak to Clarus soon. Looking down at the table Regis traced his fingers over a design in the wood, not knowing how oblivious he had been to his sons severe problem. 

Noctis can’t believe that worked. He notices how he doesn’t have a lingering feeling of nausea either, which made him even more ecstatic. This is the best he’s felt in a while. Seeing Ignis blush and also learning another way to hide his problem, it made his heart soar. 

Maybe he can keep it up long enough until he finally got his appetite back. If he ever got it back....


	4. Chapter 4

“Noctis are you listening to me?” Ignis said with an irritated tone. He stood at the opposite side of the bed, watching Noctis sit crisscross at the head of his bed scrolling through some random app on his phone. 

The younger man finally registered the outside voice, glancing over at Ignis. “Sorry what?” 

“Honestly,” Ignis huffed out under his breath, now stepping around the bed and stood more at Noctis’ side. “Like I’ve said, now for the second time, you need to tell me what you’d like for breakfast.”

Noctis sighed dramatically, finally turning the phone screen off. “I don’t know you decide.” He stood from the bed and made his way to walk past Ignis, except his feet decided to tangle themselves up in the bedsheet that was hanging onto the floor, making him trip. 

“Woah!” Ignis quickly reached an arm across Noctis’ falling body, catching him before he could fall to the floor. “Watch your step, your highness.” 

Noctis’ gripped Ignis’ bicep for support, “S-sorry,” a small blush crept up his face as he got his footing back. He kept his gaze down, praying hard that Ignis can’t see his blushing face. “But yeah, you decide breakfast...if you want.” Noctis’ chest was pounding in embarrassment. 

Ignis couldn’t help but catch a glimpse of the prince blushing in front of him, his own heart swelling in his chest. “No problem.” He quietly said back. A wicked thought crossed his mind, but he knew if he did it, Noctis would have great material to share with Prompto. Ignis smirked to himself and gently grabbed Noctis’ face, lifting the princes head lightly while sliding his body just a tad closer. “I can presume you were glad I was there to catch you?” 

‘Holy shit!!!!’ Noctis screamed to himself in his head. He can confidently assume that his whole face was bright red from what Ignis had just said. He squeezed his eyes shut and playfully pushed at Ignis chest to break them up. “I-idiot! I would’ve been fine!” As he was turning away he felt two strong hands grasp his shoulders, turning him back to face the dark blonde man. 

Ignis smiled at Noctis, but only for a split second, his smile quickly turning to a look of concern as he was feeling jutting bones underneath the princes shirt. He squeezed Noctis’ shoulders cautiously, watching Noctis cringe. This wasn’t right. “Goodness, Noctis you’ve become rather slim. Is everything alright?” 

Noctis sucked in a harsh breath, pulling himself out of Ignis’ grip. “I’m fine, just...hurry up and get breakfast I’m hungry.” He was lying. The only thing his stomach was doing was acrobatics at Ignis being so close to him. Suddenly, that irking comment Ignis made so long ago crept into his mind. ‘.....eat in smaller quantities....’ He made a b-line to his bathroom, shutting and locking the door, hoping that Ignis would leave him be. 

Ignis reached out with his hand, attempting to apologize but got a door to the face. He winced internally, feeling like he took the teasing a bit too far. Ignis knew. He knew that Noctis had feelings for him. Noctis just didn’t know that he also felt the same way. Of course he did his absolute best to make subtle hints at the price, while also trying to hide them like Noctis would, knowing that if word got out who knows how bad the staff would patronize him and tease him endlessly? Looking back down at his hand, he could still feel the lingering feeling of Noctis’ boney shoulders. His brows furrowed together. ‘Has Noctis always been so thin?’ He quickly dismissed the thought, but also made a mental note to make their breakfast’s nice and hardy this morning. 

Noctis heard the open and the close of his bedroom door, finally relaxing against the bathroom wall. He sat down on the floor, lifting his hands to his face, placing them in the same spots that Ignis’ hands were. “Asshole...” he murmured to himself, assuming that Ignis did all of that just to make fun of him. Of course Noctis also breathed in deep, loving the way his skin felt like it was on fire from where Ignis had held him moments ago. 

Ignis returned with a cart full of food for him and Noctis to share this morning. He opened the bedroom doors to find a showered Noctis in a change of clothes, sitting at his desk...looking smaller in his chair than usual. His feet halted, his eyes to scanning over the princes body, noticing the now baggy shirt and looser fitting jeans. ‘Gods, he has gotten smaller...’ He cleared his throat, making himself not think about it. “Breakfast is served.” Ignis laid out all the food onto the desk, watching Noctis out of the corner of his eye. He noticed the way Noctis was glancing around at each plate, almost like he was strategizing an attack plan in his mind. Ignis once again tried to ignore it, assuming that he was just trying to decide what to eat first. 

This was a lot more food than Noctis had been used to. He couldn’t possibly hide all of it in a napkin like he had done successfully in front of his dad. Shit. He sat up, adjusting himself to not come off as awkward in front of Ignis. “So, you still not convinced to download Kings Knight to play with me and Prom?” He had to act fast. He couldn’t just sit and not eat all of this fucking food in silence. Getting Ignis to talk about anything was the easiest way to get him distracted. 

“You know I’m not one to play games on my phone.” Ignis sat down next to Noctis, handing him a napkin and his silverware. “But I do enjoy solitaire from time to time.” 

“Iggy, you’re such a grandma.” Noctis teased, while simultaneously mushing up the eggs on his plate to discreetly hide under the piece of toast. “Prompto thinks you would be really good at Kings Knight, knowing the best strategies, knowing all of the combos,” 

“Acting as an extra suitcase for items you can’t keep to your own characters,” Ignis chimed in, being oblivious to Noctis’ food disappearing from his plate without actually having taken one bite. 

Noctis smirked and finally took a small bite of a sausage, “Yeah yeah~”. 

They spent the next half hour talking about some video game Noctis wanted, or some new coffee that Ignis had recently tried. The whole time they spoke with each other Noctis had only eaten 2 sausages and a boiled egg, his stomach screaming at him to get rid of it. 

“Well, I’m glad we got to spend another breakfast together.” Ignis stood up to initiate the end of the conversation. “Maybe we can make this a day to day thing?” 

Noctis’ stomach did another flip, internally cringing at the idea of having to eat in front of someone every morning. “Sure, but don’t you usually eat while doing your morning work?” 

Ignis smiled down at Noctis. “Well, I’d make time so I can be with you more,” Ignis reached down, placing his hand on top of Noctis’. “if that’s what you’d like?” 

Noctis’ breath hitched at the feeling of Ignis’ hand resting over his own. He suddenly got a wave of bravery, hoping that Ignis would understand what he was about to imply. “Um, we can spend more time together....but it doesn’t have to be because of food...” He blinks at Ignis, his bravery now fleeting with each second. “Or you know...just spending time with you in general....is nice.” 

Ignis raised his eyebrows in curiosity. “Are you suggesting we should perhaps go on a date?”

Noctis couldn’t speak. All that came out of his mouth was a strangled noise, not knowing how to respond. 

Ignis laughed, squeezing his dark haired friends hand. “It doesn’t have to be a date if you don’t want it to be. But I would certainly enjoy it if it did end up being that.” He watched Noctis lower his head in defeat. “How about it? Would you like to go on a date?” 

Noctis was silent for a few seconds, gripping his jeans with his free hand. “Asshole...I wanted to be the one to ask you out first.” 

Ignis chuckled, leaning down to place a faint kiss on top of Noctis’ head. “Sorry I stole your thunder. How about this Friday then? After you’ve finished your daily duties?” 

The kiss Ignis left on the top of Noctis’ hair lingered, causing his stomach churn even more from all of his nerves. Oh no, he can’t throw up now with Ignis still so close to him. Noctis quickly shot up from his chair, causing Ignis to take a few steps back. “Sounds good Specs.” He took a few awkward steps back, gripping the top of his chair in a vice grip. “Um I guess I’ll see you then.”

Ignis nodded in response, now picking up the dishes to stack them back onto the tray. He gathers all the glasses and silverware into a neat pile, picking up the tray from the desk and bowing slightly towards Noctis, “Friday it is~”. He then takes his leave, smiling fondly at Noctis while pulling the bedroom door shut. 

Noctis sighed in annoyance, but still rushed to the bathroom, once again to unwillingly expel the breakfast in his stomach. It has gotten to the point where it’s not so unbearable anymore, but still annoying and uncomfortable that it’s become such a normal part of his life. He leaned his body back up, one hand on his thigh for balance while the other flushed the toilet. Noctis sighed in discontent while turning on his heels to leave the bathroom. Even though he was able to empty his stomach, the nerves were still there from the realization that he finally has a date with Ignis. Noctis smiled to himself, grabbing his phone from where it laid on his bed, quickly texting Prompto the good news. 

Noctis - [dude you will never guess what just happened] 

Prompto - [chocobos can now be kept as legal pets in Insomnia!?] 

Noctis huffed out a laugh, shaking his head at his friends response. 

Noctis - [something even better. I have a date with Ignis on Friday.] 

Not even 5 seconds pass before his phone was lighting up with a phone call from Prompto. He quickly answered the phone and held it up to his ear, which he soon regretted as Prompto promptly started shouting. 

“Are you serious!? You and Iggster!? How did you convince him!”

He rolled his eyes at Prompto’s assumption. “I didn’t convince him anything, moron, he’s the one that asked me out.” 

“Well well well, Mr. ‘cool and smooth’ knows just what to say I guess~” 

“Shut up man, you know how long I had been mentally preparing myself to ask him out. And then he just goes and does it without me being ready.” 

“That’s what you get for being a slow poke~” Prompto teased at him. 

Noctis tsked to himself, “Hey it’s not my fault he jumped the gun!” 

He heard Prompto sigh blissfully over the phone. “You and Ignis, now boyfriends, I wonder what your dad would say?” 

“One date doesn’t mean we’re going out, stupid.” 

Before Prompto could rebuttal Noctis, he felt a twinge at his chest, remembering the conversation they had the last time they were together. “Hey, um, Noct...do you think you’ll be okay?” 

“Why wouldn’t I be okay?” Noctis asked back, not understanding Prompto’s question. 

“You know....the whole.....throwing up thing?” He was worried about Noctis, knowing that Ignis had no idea what was going on. 

“Oh,” Noctis replied weakly, “well, Ignis would probably want to take me somewhere to eat so...I guess I won’t eat until then.” 

Prompto frowned hard, wishing that Noctis could see the face he’s making over the phone, not knowing how to respond. “I just.....want you to take it safe okay? And if you think you need to say something don’t hesitate. You know Iggy would do anything to make you better.” 

“Ignis doesn’t need to know,” Noctis responded back sharply. “I can handle it without him figuring it out.” 

Prompto absolutely hates this. He knows this is a horrible thing to hide from Noctis’ potential future boyfriend. “Noctis please, just be careful. And enjoy your date with Mr. ‘cool and smooth’ okay?” 

Noctis sighed into the phone, knowing full well that Prompto isn’t doing this to hurt him. He knows that Prompto only wants the best for him, but he can’t help being so overly defensive. “I will be. Try to not worry, alright?” 

“Worry is a bit of an understatement,” Prompto mumbled to himself low enough that Noctis couldn’t hear him. He cleared his throat and tried his best to sound cheery again. “Alright dude, have fun okay?” 

“Yeah yeah, I’ll be fine.” Noctis exchanged goodbyes and hung up the phone. He could feel more worry seep in, but he wasn’t going to let this stupid problem stop him from having an amazing date with Ignis on Friday. He could do this. No problem. 

....No problem.....


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took me longer to write than I expected. I hope you all enjoy! also Gladio’s kind of a dick in this chapter

The days went by excruciatingly slow. Noctis felt like Friday would never come. But then it did. Friday morning Noctis quickly got out of bed, got himself together as fast as he could, and ran out of his room, eager to get all of his daily meetings over with. As he was rushing down the hall, he turned the corner a bit too fast, and ran smack dab into Regis. He heard his father grunt out of the impact. Clarus quickly reached out and caught them both, who had been thankfully standing behind the king. 

“Noctis! What in the blazes are you running for?” Regis spat out in suprise, regaining his balance and gripping his cane for support. He attempted to smooth his clothes down where they got wrinkled by the sudden blow. 

“Dad! I’m so sorry!” Noctis reached out and helped his father smooth out his shirt and pants. “I was...trying to get an early start to the day I guess.” 

Regis shook his head lightly, “Son, you can have an early start without having to run like a madman.” 

“I know, I’m sorry. I guess I’m just excited for tonight.” Noctis looked down and noticed that his fathers knee brace got slightly twisted from their bodies crashing together. “Here, let me fix that.” He bent down and gently twisted the brace back into place. 

Regis gave Noctis a light pat to the top of his sons head. “What’s going on tonight? More video gaming with Prompto?” 

“Yeah, something like that.” Noctis couldn’t possibly tell his dad that he was going on a date with Ignis. There’d be no telling how he would react. 

Clarus watched the two of them, standing a few feet away to give them space. He was happy that the king and the prince had such a good relationship even if they didn’t spend much time together. He watched how Noctis carefully moved the knee brace back into place so it wouldn’t hurt Regis. He watched Noctis stand back up to his feet, looking him up and down, seeing how Noctis’ clothes barely hung on his skinny frame. Clarus furrowed his brows slightly, holding himself back from saying anything in the moment. 

Regis watched his son stand back up, smoothing out the loose fitting shirt and jeans. “Well,” Regis reached up and squeezed his sons shoulder lightly, “do enjoy your day, and try to not knock anybody else over.”

Noctis bit the inside of his cheek in embarrassment. “Okay. I will.” He weakly waved at his father and Clarus before walking past them, not running anymore but definitely walking faster. Clarus changed to walking next to Regis instead of behind him. 

The two of them walked down the hall silently for a few minutes. Clarus, not knowing if he should speak about Noctis, but he decided to say something against his better judgement. He sighed and turned to the king, “Regis, have you noticed how thin Noctis has become? To put it bluntly, he looks sick.” 

Regis slowly stopped, holding his cane tight. He looked to Clarus with a slightly worried look. “Yes. Yes I have.” Regis had noticed it from the beginning, he couldn’t help but notice, not knowing what the problem was but he could definitely tell that his son was getting skinnier and skinnier with each day passing . This whole time he was hoping that all of it was just something that would fix itself. Of course now he can see that nothing has changed for the better, it’s only gotten worse. He ran a hand over his face before continuing down the hall. “I’ve been able to see how thin he’s become, but I don’t know what’s causing it.” 

Clarus hummed to himself, not knowing what to think either. “I hope my son isn’t overworking him during their training sessions. I can only hope that he’s not pushing Noctis too hard.” 

“Noctis has always been vocal with his training.” Regis said back, “I think if he felt like he was being pushed too hard Gladio would definitely have heard.” 

“I’ll say something to Gladio later, maybe he can change up their training routine slightly to help Noctis bounce back.” 

Regis reached up and patted Clarus’ back gently. “That sounds fair enough.” Clarus and Regis nodded to each other, deciding to end the conversation there. 

~~~~~

Noctis was in agony. The last thing on his list to do was sit in a meeting with the Kings Glaive, having Drautos rattle on about something unimportant, having no personal importance in the meeting except just being physically there. What made it even worse was that he was sitting to the left of Ignis in the very back of the room. He glanced over to look at Ignis, wanting so badly to reach out and touch him in some way. 

Ignis could feel the uneasiness radiating from Noctis. He kept his composure, but slowly slid his left hand over to Noctis’ arm rest, resting his own hand just in front of the other mans hand. 

Noctis looked down and bit his lips together, not knowing what to do. He thought for a few seconds before deciding to let his hand fall in between their seats, motioning with a flex of his hand for Ignis to do the same. Ignis took in a breath through his nose and shuffled in his seat, crossing one leg over the other and letting his hand fall down next to Noctis’. Noctis thanked the gods that they were in the back of the room, the wall behind them so one would be able to see what they were doing. He gently reached over with his pinky and ring finger, intertwining them with Ignis’ own. 

Ignis smirked to himself and leaned over, knowing that it looked like he was talking to Noctis about the meeting, but he definitely wasn’t. “You’re being so bold, Noctis.” He whispered lightly into Noctis’ neck, causing goosebumps to rise up against the other mans skin. 

Noctis shivered from Ignis whispering against his neck, but then he whispered back while also squeezing their fingers together, “I want this dumb meeting to be over so we can finally start our date.” 

“Patience~, I’m sure Drautos will be done speaking soon.” Ignis purred back to Noctis, noticing another shiver run over the princes body. As neither of them were paying attention, Drautos in fact had ended the meeting. Everyone in the room was now gathering up their things, and scattering out the doors. Noctis noticed all the commotion and quickly pulled his hand away, standing up along with Ignis and walking out the door behind everyone else. 

They ended up back at Noctis’ bedroom, stopping right outside the doors before Ignis cleared his throat and spoke. “So, Noct, I can assume you’d like to get ready before we head out on our date?” 

Noctis nodded and slid closer into Ignis, brushing his hand against Ignis once more. “Yeah I’d like to. Where exactly are we going?” 

Ignis’ skin burned where Noctis touched him. He smiled and laced their fingers together. “I thought we could spend some time at my place. I’d cook us a meal you’d love, then we can just spend some quality time together, like you said you wanted.” 

Noctis’ stomach flipped, half out of fear from eating in front of Ignis but also half out of the excitement of being with Ignis in his apartment alone. “Sure, I’ll be ready in about 20 minutes?” 

Ignis then tore his gaze from Noctis, looking around to make sure no one else was around before holding the princes hand and raising it to his lips, pressing a light peck to the back of Noctis’ hand. “I’ll go get the car ready. I’ll see you in 20.” He smiled watching a faint blush creep onto Noctis’ cheeks. 

“Okay,” Noctis breathed out, slipping his hand away as he walked into his room, slowly closing the door on Ignis. He turned away from the door, squeezing his eyes shut and shaking his head back and forth, now scolding himself in his head, ‘Calm down! The date hasn’t even started and I’m already freaking out!’ He rushed to his walk in closet, taking off his current clothes and pushing on his favorite shirt and some different pants. Turning on his heels, he faced the mirror that was in one corner of his closet, giving himself a look over. He saw his now scrawny frame, his favorite shirt now hanging off his shoulders. No, he can’t wear this. He threw it off, facing away before he could get a glance of how he looked without clothes on, rushing to find a shirt that would fit. In a dark corner of the closet he found an older shirt that used to be too small for him. Noctis quickly slid it over his head and arms, going back to the mirror and looking at himself once more. The shirt fit perfectly. He chewed at his bottom lip, the realization now settling in that the majority of his clothes hardly fit him anymore. But that thought can wait. He pushed it to the back of his mind, now futzing with his hair to make it more styled. He did another final look, finding it acceptable enough before rushing back out of his room. 

He met Ignis outside at the bottom of the steps of the Citadel entrance. Ignis was waiting at the drivers side, standing with the door open watching Noctis bounce down the steps. Noctis smiled at Ignis as he opened the passenger side and slid into the seat. Ignis followed suit and slipped into the car, putting his seatbelt on and driving off. They got to Ignis’ apartment fast, since Ignis lives only about 10 minutes from the Citadel. 

The whole ride over they didn’t speak to each other; Noctis having no idea what to say and Ignis planning out their meal in his head. They both stepped out of the car that was now in a parking garage and walked into the luxury apartment complex, riding up the elevator and walked to Ignis’ apartment. 

Ignis unlocked the door, letting Noctis walk inside first. “You can relax at the dining table or the couch if you’d like.” He announced into the echoing apartment. It only had the basic necessities, not having any sort of charm to it. A dining table sitting next to the kitchen, the living room adjacent from the kitchen with a large couch wrapping one wall and a tv mounted against the opposite wall of the living room. Bland and practical, just how Ignis has had it for years. 

Noctis doesn’t know where to sit, shuffling lightly for a few seconds before deciding to sit at the table, pulling his phone out to distract himself from being nervous. 

Ignis quickly gets to work on their dinner, deciding earlier to make grilled wild salmon and lemon pasta. He quickly starts the boiling water, turning on the oven and fishing everything out of the fridge. 

Noctis watched Ignis work away at the food for a few minutes before putting his phone down and walking up next to Ignis. He gently cleared his throat to get the other mans attention. “Need any help?” 

Ignis smiled warmly and handed Noctis a few lemons and a smaller knife, placing them on a cutting board. “I’d love your help.” 

20 minutes later and the apartment is full of amazing smells and aromas. Noctis now in the living room, watching Ignis from the couch doing the finishing touches on their meal. 

Ignis glances at Noctis, smiling as he wipes his hands on a cloth before walking over and sitting down next to the other man. “Everything should be ready in another 10 minutes. The salmon isn’t quite done yet.” He scoots closer to Noctis, taking his hand. “Did you enjoy watching me cook?” 

Noctis smiles back, lacing their fingers together. “Of course I did. You’ve always been so good at it, it’s hard not to watch you.” 

Ignis led their hands to his lips, twisting them lightly so he could place a warm kiss to the back of Noctis’ hand. “I can say the same about you when you’re training with Gladio.” 

Noctis scoffed and smiled weakly. “Yeah right, sometimes I think I look like a flailing rubber chicken compared to Gladio.” Noctis then guided their hands to his own lips, kissing Ignis fingers, loving how soft his skin felt against his lips. He could taste some residual lemon juice and spices from where Ignis prepared the salmon. 

Ignis watched him, his eyes slightly glazing over. “Noct, if you don’t mind me being so bold, but can I kiss you?” He leans in slightly, moving their hands out of the way to see Noctis face, his dark midnight eyes glowing in the dimly lit living room. 

Noctis’ eyes widen from the question, a big grin crept up his face before he responded, “Yeah...yeah I’d like that.” 

Ignis leans in more and whispers against Noctis lips, “I’m glad~” before pressing their lips together tentatively. He raised his free hand to cup the side of Noctis’ face, holding the prince gently. 

Noctis completely melted under Ignis’ touch. He let go of Ignis’ hand, reaching up with both hands to hold the other mans face. The kiss was everything he had ever dreamed of. Ignis pulled away slowly, now tilting his head forward to rest their foreheads together. 

“I’ve wanted to kiss you like this for such a long time,” Ignis whispered against Noctis before diving back in, now kissing more passionately. 

Noctis hummed in agreement, molding their lips together. His hands moved from holding Ignis’ face, now wrapping his arms around the other mans neck. He arched his back lightly, bumping their chests together. He was on cloud nine, his mind buzzing from the rising arousal in his pants. 

A sudden shrill came ringing from the kitchen. The timer. Ignis pulled his lips away with a sigh, breaking their makeout session. “Right...” He reluctantly pulled himself from Noctis’ grip and went back into the kitchen to collect the food from the oven. Noctis gasped lightly when they broke apart, slumping back into the couch, cursing at the timer under his breath. 

Ignis pulled everything out of the oven, picking up the salmon gently with some tongs and placed it onto a more decorative serving plate. He gives the pasta one final swirl in the pot before placing that into a decorative bowl to match. Giving everything one final look over, Ignis gave a satisfactory nod before carrying the food to the table. 

“It smells great Ignis,” Noctis announced from the couch, now picking himself up to walk back to the table to look at the food. Thankfully his stomach hasn’t given him any issues so far. He could only pray to the gods that tonight will go smoothly without any upchucking. 

“You were a great help.” Ignis replied, now placing dishes and silverware at their spots at the table. “Maybe I should persuade you to come over more often to get you to cook with me again.” 

“Don’t have to ask me twice. Just as long as I’m the sue chef and not having to do anything super complicated.” Noctis sat down at his spot, adjusting his seat so he sat closer to the table. 

Ignis chuckled and stood behind Noctis, leaning down to press a quick kiss to the top of the princes head. “I wouldn’t throw you into the fire without warning.” He walked back around to his own spot at the table and sat down. “Well, let’s dig in, shall we?” 

Noctis gave a faint smile, now scanning over the meal in front of him. A faint sense of dread now seeping into his mind, only realizing that he has nowhere to run. Nibbling at his lower lip, he reaches out with a reluctant hand, placing a small piece of salmon onto his plate. He then grabs a small amount of the pasta, shaking some extra noodles out of the tongs grip before deciding it was a small enough portion to put on his plate. Ignis watched him, the gears slowly moving in his mind as he watched Noctis eat. He noticed the way Noctis would hesitate with each forkful of food before taking it into his mouth. It finally clicked in his head that something was definitely wrong, but he didn’t want to bring anything up in case Noctis got defensive. He decided to convince himself that Noctis was just experiencing nerves since this was their first date. So they spent the next hour sharing their meal together, laughing together, and watching each other. The sun has now long set, the glow of Insomnias city lights coming through the living room windows. 

Noctis took a small bite, and look at Ignis, noticing how the spectacled man was smiling fondly at him. Noctis swallowed the food down nervously, doing his absolute best to ignore the protests coming from his stomach. “Why are you staring at me?” 

Ignis leaned over, once again giving him a chaste kiss on the lips. “It’s nothing darling, just simply enjoying this moment together.” 

In that moment Noctis’ stomach turned into a giant knot of nausea. He gripped his thigh hard, trying his best to hide the pain in his face. He glanced down at his plate, seeing how he barely made a dent in the salmon and didn’t finish hardly any of the pasta he originally grabbed. Flashing a smile at Ignis before scooting his chair back, Noctis glanced around the apartment. “Where’s your bathroom?” 

Ignis pointed towards a random door on the opposite side of the room. “Just go through the bedroom and it will be to the left.” 

“Thanks, sorry I’ll be right back.” Noctis forced himself to stand up slowly and walk in a normal pace to not let Ignis suspect anything. He went through the bedroom, opened the bathroom door, shut it and locked it as quietly as he could, his hands shaking like mad. Soon his whole body was shaking, falling to his knees just in front of the toilet. ‘Oh gods, he’s totally going to hear me what the fuck do I do!?’ Noctis screamed at himself, gripping his hard. He quickly glanced up at the small sink, reaching up as fast as he could to turn the knob of the faucet, letting the water rush out loud. He prayed that would be enough noise to hide the horrible sounds of him throwing up. Now back down on his knees, he gave into the nausea and threw up into the toilet without hesitation. 

After he was done, Noctis stood back up and glared at himself in the mirror, twisting the knobs of the sink off. ‘I fucking hate this...’ He was so fed up. He couldn’t dare walk back out to Ignis with barf breath. Glancing down at the cabinet beneath the sink he contemplated rummaging through Ignis’ things. Maybe he had a spare toothbrush? No, it would be wrong to take something like that without asking, but he wasn’t about to give himself the chance to ruin this date. Noctis bent down, opening the cabinet door and let out a sigh of relief. There was a toothbrush, laying unopened at the bottom corner of the cabinet. He grabbed it, squirted some of Ignis’ tooth paste on it and brushed his teeth like crazy until he couldn’t taste anything but the residual mint flavor. He then wrapped the toothbrush up in toilet paper, throwing it into the trash bin hoping that Ignis wouldn’t notice. 

Noctis made his way back to the table, making sure that he didn’t have any sort of evidence accidentally get on his clothes or in his hair. “Sorry about that.” 

Ignis shrugged now taking the liberty to clear the table and store away the remaining food. “No need to apologize for something you can’t control.” 

Right. Can’t control. Noctis cringed internally knowing that Ignis had no idea what just happened in his own bathroom, and knowing that this thing that he can’t control has been controlling his life now for a good month at this point. 

Ignis had finished up putting everything away, now making his way over to Noctis, wrapping his long arms around the princes waist. “I can guess you enjoyed your meal?” 

Gods, it felt like Ignis was just mocking him at this point. “It was great.” Noctis bit back the defensive comment he really wanted to say. ‘Oh yeah I really enjoyed keeping my food in my stomach for less than an hour.’ 

“Good. Would you like a continuation of earlier? Since we don’t have any timer to interrupt us?” Ignis then lowered his hands into the dip of Noctis’ back, pulling them closer together. 

Noctis felt his body tingle underneath Ignis’ touch. “I’d dare say that you’re trying to do more than just make out again?” He then wrapped his arms around the other mans neck once more, grinning. 

“Hmmm,” Ignis hummed in response, now moving his hands lower into the back pockets of Noctis’ jeans. “Only if you wish for it to go in that direction.” 

“Of course I do~.” Noctis then starts walking backwards with Ignis, blindly leading them into the older mans bedroom to let their bodies fall into the bed. A small laugh left Ignis who was not at all surprised at Noctis’ boldness. He let the dark haired man lay on top of him, kneading his ass lightly through the Jean pockets. Noctis bits his lips together, his eyes fluttering shut while holding back another moan before reaching down to tug Ignis’ shirt out of his pants. 

“Don’t hold back the noises you make darling,” Ignis was now working at pulling Noctis’ jeans down his hips, “I want to hear everything.” 

Noctis then leans in to connect their bodies with a kiss, barely brushing their lips together but stops when he hears his phone screech like a chocobo loudly from the kitchen. Prompto just texted him. They both look over in the direction of the noise, but Noctis reaches up with both hands, guiding Ignis’ gaze back to look at him. “Just ignore it,” Noctis went to move for a kiss again, but his phone started to blow up like mad, sounding like a herd of chocobos invading the apartment. Noctis rolled his eyes, groaning in irritation into Ignis’ shoulder. 

“Just answer it, I’m sure it could be something of importance.” Ignis pulled his hands away from Noctis then, letting him go. Noctis sighed in annoyance, heaving his body away from Ignis to get off the bed. He sat up, grabbing his pants and shuffling them back up just so they wouldn’t fall and make him trip while he made his way back into the kitchen. Except it wasn’t his pants that would make him trip. Before he could even reach his phone at the table his vision swirled violently, his brain forming into mush as a horrible headache ripped through him. He winced in pain, slapping a hand to his head, eyes growing heavy with each step. He barely was able to reach out with shaking hands to try to grab something for balance, but all he grabbed was a chair pulling it down with him as he toppled to the floor. Ignis heard the crashing of the chair and the thud of Noctis’ body hitting the floor following it from the bedroom. He shot out of the bed and rushed into the kitchen, finding Noctis holding his head with one hand and the other holding his body up off the floor, half groaning half whimpering from hitting the floor hard. 

“Noctis! Are you alright what happened!?” He bent down on the floor, grabbing Noctis’ shoulders gently, scanning his eyes over the younger mans body looking for any injuries. 

Noctis held his head in his hands, his arms shivering. “I-I don’t know,” He swallowed hard, having a hint of why this happened but not wanting to bring it up. “ I think I just....got up too fast.” He gently pushed Ignis’ hands away, trying to stand up on his own but the splitting headache shot through him again like lightning, making his legs buckle underneath him. Ignis quickly grabbed Noctis before he could hit the floor again. 

“Noctis please, don’t try to stand up let me help you.” Ignis held one arm around Noctis’ waste, now feeling the younger mans protruding hip bone under his palm. He frowned to himself while he carried Noctis to the couch, shoving a pillow to one end to support Noctis’ head. 

“Iggy please, I’m okay.” Noctis was totally and utterly embarrassed, hating that Ignis was having to help him like this. “I need to see what Prompto was texting me.” He tried to sit up, but his body protested making him wince hard before falling back against the cushion. 

“You’re not going anywhere. Prompto can wait and I’m calling Gladio to help me take you back to the Citadel.” Ignis had grabbed his own phone at this point, now holding it up to his ear while waiting for Gladio to pick up the phone. 

Noctis threw an arm over his eyes, groaning in annoyance. “Ignis please, don’t get him involved.” Ignis of course wasn’t listening, he was too busy already giving Gladio instructions to come over, explaining what had just happened. After Ignis hung up, he pondered a thought in his head, but quickly deciding to go ahead and text Gladio something without having to say it out loud where Noctis could hear him. 

Ignis - [Noctis looks like he’s in bad shape so please try to hold your tongue when you get here]

Gladio - [got it. Wait I thought he was supposed to be with blondie tonight? You finally cracked and made a move on the princess I see] 

Ignis rolled his eyes while sending his final text. 

Ignis - [you can put two and two together as to why he’s here and not with Prompto.]

It didn’t take long before there was a hard knock at the door followed by Gladio’s muffled voice for Ignis to let him inside. Ignis of course obliged and let the bigger man into the apartment. Gladio stepped in and made his way to Noctis who looked up at him in annoyance. The larger man looked the prince up and down, noticing the bags under his eyes, the way his small frame barely took up any room on the couch. He let the words slip out of his mouth before he could think to stop them, “Gods almighty, you look like shit.” Noctis’ only response was rolling his eyes and crossing his arms over his chest. 

Ignis shot daggers at Gladio with his eyes from his comment. “Help him get to the car.” 

“I’m not broken I can walk by my damn self.” Noctis spat out, standing up from the couch while still holding his throbbing head. 

Gladio scoffed to himself before reaching out and placing a hand on Noctis’ back to stop the dark haired man from swaying. “Like hell you can walk by yourself, you look awful. Let us help you before you do anything else to hurt yourself.” 

“Enough Gladio, just help Noctis to the car.” Ignis scolded the bigger man. “You can make it that far without the two of you bickering can’t you?” The two men in question decided it was best to not start anything in front of Ignis knowing it would just make the situation worse. Gladio guided Noctis out of Ignis’ place and out of the apartment complex straight to the car that was waiting close by in the parking garage. 

Noctis was guided to sit in the front seat, Gladio sitting in the back and Ignis taking the wheel. They drove out of the parking garage, sitting in silence for a few minutes before Noctis broke it with a sigh. “I’m sorry I ruined our date.” 

“Nonsense.” Ignis reached over and placed a hand on Noctis’ thigh, squeezing gently. “We still had a good time together, and now the priority is to get you home and well.” 

They pulled up to the Citadel, all three of them stepping out of the car simultaneously. Ignis helped Noctis walk inside while Gladio stayed a few feet behind them, watching the way that Ignis was holding a hand against the dip of Noctis’ back and how Noctis would occasionally lean his head to rest on the slightly taller mans shoulder. Gladio rolled his eyes playfully at the way they were being so lovey dovey. 

The trio kept walking together until they reached Noctis’ bedroom. It took a few minutes of Noctis convincing Ignis that he was going to be fine once he was able to rest in his own bed. Ignis reluctantly agreed to leave Noctis alone against his better judgement. He gave Noctis a gentle hug and a tender kiss as a goodbye before turning to leave him, smiling fondly as he walked down the corridor now leaving Noctis and Gladio alone. 

Noctis let out a heavy sigh, now noticing the way Gladio was staring at him. “What are you looking at?” He asked defensively. 

“Nothing,” Gladio shrugged, folding his arms over his chest now glaring at the smaller man in front of him. “I just think you need to start taking better care of yourself so you don’t make everyone worry so much.” 

Obviously being offended by Gladio’s comment, Noctis glared at the bigger man. “I’m taking care of myself just fine.” 

“Bullshit,” Gladio barked back, “not even an hour ago you almost passed out. You look so sick that a light breeze could knock you to your knees.” He stepped into Noctis’ personal space, now towering over the prince, boxing him in against the bedroom doors. “I’m not blind, I see you everyday during training. I can see how thin you’ve gotten. You look like a ghost, so fix whatever it is that’s bothering you, so you can get back to being normal.” 

“Don’t you get it!?” Noctis hissed back at Gladio shoving his hands into the bigger mans chest as hard as he could to make him back off, but of course Gladio made no indication of budging at all. “I can’t control it! No matter how hard I’ve tried to fix it nothing is getting better.” He did his best to hold back the tears now threatening to well up, his composure now braking. “For weeks now I’ve been dealing with this shit by myself and not telling anyone what’s going on, I don’t need someone like you to tell me how to feel about it!” 

“Then grow a pair and fucking tell someone damnit!” Gladio yelled back, now getting more irritated. 

“I CANT!” Noctis screamed, now shoving his hands into Gladio’s face, making his friend finally back up enough to open his bedroom door. He slipped inside and slammed the door on Gladios face, locking it as fast as he could. Stumbling backwards, his head was pounding in rhythm with Gladio’s fist banging hard against the door. Before he could think straight he rushed to the bathroom, throwing himself over the toilet dry heaving into the toilet bowl. It felt like his head was about to literally split in half from all the pain. After a few attempts with nothing coming back up, Noctis let himself fall back against the wall in exhaustion. He could feel drool running down the corner of his mouth, his chest rising and falling shakily while he tried his best to catch his breath. Swallowing hard, which was a bad idea since it felt like a bunch of needles were scraping his throat, Noctis stood back to his feet, gripping the top of the toilet for balance. He wiped his mouth with a wad of toilet paper to get rid of the drool, except when he went to throw the tissue into the toilet he noticed how the supposed drool was actually blood, and he could feel more of it pooling in his mouth now threatening to drip into the toilet. 

Blood. His throat is bleeding. 

With a rugged gasp Noctis quickly grabbed more toilet paper, wiping off his mouth with a shaky hand. He threw it into the toilet, flushing everything down before rushing out of the bathroom. He didn’t even bother changing his clothes before curling into his bed, hugging himself tight while burying his face into his pillow. ‘Just go to sleep you’ll be fine just go to sleep just ignore it.’ Noctis kept replaying this phrase in his head to himself, hoping that it would calm him down. He couldn’t hear anything outside of his door, being thankful that Gladio gave up and left. If he could just go to sleep, all of this would be gone in the morning. None of this pain would be there if he could just go to sleep. Before Noctis realized, he felt tears falling down his cheeks. He held a hand over his mouth, holding back the quiet sobs. 

Noctis was scared. It was finally sinking in how scared he was. The fear of losing more weight, the fear of being seen as nothing but a burden to his friends, and especially the fear of being seen as a failure to his father. It was too much. All he could do was cry silently to himself. In that moment, he made a horrible promise to himself that he was going to keep lying and make sure that everything looked like it was under control. It was okay. Noctis was fine. 

Everything was fine.


End file.
